Tuesday 1 May 2018

All The Feels

A long, long time ago, I was dating pretty much the worst guy ever. But, being younger and oh so much dumber, I tried to make it work for 2 years. Part of trying to make it work involved compromising on the amount of time I spent riding (or doing pretty much anything that wasn't his idea/in his control).

Eventually, I smartened up, left, and bought my own place. And, he unfortunately looked for revenge. The police and legal system eventually had to get involved (and they were all super, by the way - if ever any of you are in a bad place, please don't be afraid to accept help and/or guidance from them.)

So, a bit of a bad time. Although I did my best to cope, I wanted to run away from my hometown and all that history. Even with the police and legal system backing me, I didn't feel safe living there. I was embarrassed that so many people were aware of things I felt were personal. So, I put my house for sale, quit my job, and went back to school. More importantly to this particular story, I sold my horse because time was now even tighter, as were finances, and mentally I was not in a place where I could easily handle the responsibility of caring for her.

As mentioned, that was a looong time ago. I'm giving you the backstory because A: After years of being ashamed, I've come to realize people need to talk openly about such experiences, and B: so you'll understand how lucky I feel that this lovely mare found her way back into my life in her old age.

Bridget meeting Josie for the first time. Josie is about 2 hands taller than B, so it's only pony 'tude and determination making B appear larger.

Josie is now in her early 20's. I owned her as a 5-8 year old, I think. She's a 16.1hh appendix QH, and apparently I am still listed as the owner on her papers. She's had great homes through the years, and her final and current owner is probably the best of the bunch.

Back in the day, Josie was a really green broke, opinionated mare, and I was a pretty clueless late teen/early 20 something with her first horse. We tackled a ton of trails, jumped a few jumps, and did some basic dressage (much to her disgust). Locally, Josie is still known for her somewhat 'opinionated' attitude. Bridget is pretty much a mini me temperament wise. So funny, perhaps I do have a type.

Josie is now retired, and moved to the barn a month or so ago. She sadly has navicular. The plan as I understand it is to give her a summer on the farm before her owner arranges for her to be put to sleep in the fall. Only a small part of Josie's life is my story to tell, but she has kept an important piece of my heart, and selling her is definitely one of my bigger regrets from that time. I'm so happy I get to say hello to her every day again, and so pleased she's always had so many good people in her life.

Neither of them tend to really like other horses, so this kissy face stuff they have going on is kinda cute.

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18 comments

  1. I'm so sorry you went through that :( Thank you for sharing your story <3
    How funny the world works, I'm happy that you get to see Josie now.

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    1. I feel so much more at peace with everything knowing she's had such a good life! :)

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  2. Aw that is so seriously sweet to have Josie back in your life! And so wonderful that she’s had such a loved life even if parting ways from you happened in such awful circumstances for you.

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    1. I always felt like I let her down, so I'm especially grateful she's had the best life.

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  3. That is so fantastic and special you get to see Josie agian, and to know she has had a good life. :')

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    1. So many good horse owners out there, and she's lived quite a life! I think she holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts :)

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  4. How wonderful that your stories have merged again! It's so nice to hear she had great owners her whole life - I feel like I don't hear enough happy stories like that.

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  5. What a great story! So cool you got to see Josie again!

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    1. And she's boarded back at the same farm I bought her from, kind of full circle for her :)

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  6. I love how this horse you never expected to see again is now back in your life thanks to, amazingly, a string of good people - and it ended up helping you share something about yourself that you might not have otherwise. Something that was obviously difficult, but could also end up helping someone else :)

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    1. Even then, I was pretty street smart, had a good job, an education, was independent, etc. I'm not saying I didn't make mistakes/ignore some red flags, but truly, I think it can happen to anyone and it can be very difficult to see the way out and not to blame yourself :(

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  7. Wow, all the feels is right. I'm so glad you got to reconnect with her. I'm sorry to hear about that nasty stuff in your past.

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    1. It's so cliche, but those experiences really do make me appreciate all the great things in my life now, so in a twisted way, it's all ended up for the best :)

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  8. Thank you for sharing your story! It's hard to put personal stuff out in the open on the blog and I truly commend you for it!! Also, it's amazing that Josie has come back into your life -- she's super cute!!

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    1. She's mellowed a little with age, but still the same Josievi knew and loved before! :)

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  9. Aww so heartwarming that she made it back to you in her old age, sucks about the Navicular but she had a good life and she'll have a wonderful summer I'm sure.

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  10. Awww, this is beautiful! Sorry you had to go through all that, but how cool that you get reunited like this. Thanks for sharing :)

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